Tennis GOAT. Mother. Founder. Williams, who calls the court her “red-carpet moment,” speaks to VF about launching her makeup brand Wyn Beauty this week.
Early on, playing on the pro circuit meant having to grow up in front of a camera,” says Serena Williams, whose career kicked off at 14. When she began wearing liquid liner and lip stain for matches, scrutiny followed. “People would always give me side-eye: ‘Why are you doing that? You’re an athlete.’ ” In time, the tennis legend made a case for aesthetic flourishes; now, with the debut of Wyn Beauty, she champions performance-grade makeup for off-court life.
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The 10-piece line is both clean and comprehensive, ranging from a stay-put tubing mascara to a lip-and-cheek pigment to an SPF 30 skin tint offered in 36 shades. Every detail is finessed, down to the W embossed into the matte lipstick bullet—taken from a personal font Williams created years ago. To her, the brand’s chartreuse packaging is a symbol of ongoing evolution. “I didn’t like the word retirement,” she says of her 2022 departure from the game. Her tennis ball has simply bounced onto an Ulta shelf.
Here, Williams discusses her early beauty inspirations, the key to a post-match reset, and which product is the all-star—not that she can play favorites.
I remember early on when I wore makeup—not even on the court but just around in the tennis arena—people would look twice. They’d be like, “Why is she wearing makeup?” And I was like, “Well, this is me and this is what I like to do.” When I started wearing makeup on the court, whether it was eyeliner or lip stains that would last a really long time, it was definitely not normal. No one did that up until that time. I definitely saw it changing as the years went on. You would see players walking out with lots of mascara on or, eventually, wearing eyelash extensions if they could. One tournament, I did wear lashes the whole time. That was a fun experience. I won that tournament too, so I don’t know why I stopped! Each tournament I was just changing things up, trying to find a different way to beautify my sport.
